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This Summer's Best Dive Watches

The world’s finest watchmakers plumb the depths of our devotion to deep-water exploration with a series of functional yet fashionable dive watches.

New from Cartier, this bold 42mm Calibre de Cartier Diver ($28,100) is crafted in 18k pink gold and offered on a rubber strap. Not only does it look good, but it is also highly functional. It houses the self-winding Manufacture Calibre 1904 MC, with small seconds and calendar, and is water-resistant to 300 meters. The ADLC unidirectional bezel and sword-shaped hands and markers coated with Super-LumiNova enable easy underwater reading.

One of the fastest-growing sports around the globe is scuba diving. As people look for adventure and enlightening experiences, the concept of mingling with marine life and experiencing a world that is both beautiful and foreign becomes ever more appealing. Recognizing this desire to explore new frontiers, luxury watchmakers have begun offering timepieces suitable to the depths.

A dive watch should be water-resistant to at least a diver’s International Organization for Standardization (ISO) rating of 200 meters, with 300 meters and greater being preferred. Additionally, it should be easily readable and include features such as a unidirectional bezel, antireflective crystals, Super-LumiNova hands and markers, and interchangeable or expandable bracelets for use over wetsuits. Often these timepieces are COSC-certified (Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètres, the Official Swiss Chronometer Testing Institute) chronometers, tested over a specified length of time for ruggedness and durability under a variety of conditions. Deep-dive watches that go 300 meters and deeper also offer helium escape valves. If you plan to take to the waters, you may want to explore these six watches that take the necessary factors into consideration.

This Rolex Oyster Perpetual Submariner Date watch ($34,250) is a 40mm 18k yellow gold professional instrument. The 31-jeweled COSC-certified chronometer is water-resistant to 1,000 feet. It features a rotating blue ceramic bezel and is fitted with an Oyster Glidelock bracelet.

This Breitling Avenger II Seawolf with a Cobra yellow dial and Diver Pro III strap ($3,825) is designed to withstand shock. Lateral reinforcements protect the large screw-locked crown, and its antiglare-coated crystal and large hands and markers with luminescent coating make it extremely functional. It is a COSC-certified chronometer and water-resistant to 3,000 meters.

From Tudor, this self-winding mechanical Heritage Black Bay watch ($3,100) is the newest addition to the Heritage collection, inspired by a diving model the brand first introduced in 1954. The 41mm watch features the historic “snowflake” hands that are legible under water, and it is water-resistant to 200 meters. Like all models in the Heritage line, it comes with two bracelets or straps: an adjustable blue fabric strap with a sophisticated weave and a choice of either a midnight-blue distressed leather strap matching the bezel or a satin-finished and polished steel bracelet. Both come with a folding clasp.

From Ulysse Nardin, this Marine Diver watch ($22,200) is crafted in titanium and gold with a rubber strap. The 45mm watch houses the UN-26 self-winding caliber with 28 jewels and power-reserve indicator. It features luminescent hands and markers and is a COSC-certified chronometer. It is water-resistant to 200 meters.

The new Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Diver ($19,000) is crafted in stainless steel with a 42mm case, glare-proof sapphire crystal, screw-locked crown, and rubber strap. Highly functional, the self-winding watch offers luminescent hands and markers and dive scale on an inner rotating ring that is activated via a unidirectional click mechanism. The watch is water-resistant to 300 meters.